YouTube captures 11.6% of TV viewing in February.
FOX climbs into the top three media distributors for the first time, boosted by the Super Bowl and cable news viewership.
The February 2025 interval dates included 1/27/2025 through 2/23/2025. Nielsen reporting follows the broadcast calendar, and measurement weeks run Monday through Sunday.
NEW YORK – March 25, 2025 – YouTube took the lead in Nielsen’s February 2025 Media Distributor Gauge, gaining 2% over January to capture 11.6% of time spent watching TV across the month. This marks YouTube’s best share of TV to date, and is the second time the pure-play streamer has topped the Media Distributor Gauge since Nielsen began tracking in November 2023.
YouTube has exhibited steady usage increases for some time. A longer-term look at the platform’s growth illustrates that time spent watching YouTube on television is up 53% versus two years ago in February 2023, and its share of TV has grown from 7.9% to 11.6% in that time, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge™ reports. Additionally, the overall viewing bump has been increasingly driven by older audiences. Viewing from adults aged 65+ has nearly doubled in the last two years (+96%), and the demographic now represents a viewing contribution similar to that from kids 2-11 (15.4% vs. 16.9%).
| YouTube Audience Trends | Age Demographics | ||||||
| 2 – 11 | 12-17 | 18-34 | 35-49 | 50-64 | 65 + | Total | |
| Feb. 2025 Audience Composition | 16.9% | 6.9% | 21.0% | 19.4% | 20.4% | 15.4% | 100% |
| Viewing Change vs. Feb. 2023 | +32% | +35% | +48% | +50% | +62% | +96% | +53% |
Note: YouTube usage reported in The Gauge excludes viewing on YouTubeTV.
FOX-owned entities gained 5% in February on the strength of a successful multi-platform Super Bowl, in addition to a 3% bump in FOX News Channel viewership, which drove 37% of the company’s total viewing. FOX Sports 1 viewership was also up 45% compared with January, primarily attributable to NASCAR events. Overall, FOX achieved an 8.3% share of TV usage in February and climbed from sixth to third in the rankings to notch its highest placement to date in the Media Distributor Gauge.
Following its best monthly performance to date in the Media Distributor Gauge, which was driven by NFL games and the College Football Playoffs, Disney lost two share points in February. This impact dropped them out of the top slot for only the third time since the inception of the Media Distributor Gauge.
About The Gauge™
The Gauge™ is Nielsen’s monthly snapshot of total broadcast, cable and streaming consumption that occurs through a television screen, providing the industry with a holistic look at what audiences are watching. The Gauge was expanded in April 2024 to include The Media Distributor Gauge, which reflects total viewing by media distributor across these categories. Read more about The Gauge methodology and FAQs.
About Nielsen
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